According to the present state of medical sciences an adequate intake of "fibrous materials" serves as casual therapy in cases of obstipation and intestinal diseases, such as occur for example in the case of diverticulosis; cf. W. Weiss and A. Neumayr, Ars medici 7, 292 (1976). It is also known that while not all fibrous materials have the same therapeutic effect, cereal fibres are of particular importance--see K. W. Heaton and E. W. Pomare, The Lancet 1, 49 (1974). An intake of 20 to 30 grams of bran per day is recommended as the customary dietetic dosage--see Congress Report Med. Tribune 37, 37 (1977).
It is still a matter of dispute how food can be enriched most effectively with indigestible ballast materials. Practical experience shows in fact that the intake by spoon of the required daily amount of bran is usually unacceptable over a long period of time. To administer bran in tablet form it has therefore already been proposed--cf. I. Taylor and L. Dutthie, Brit. Med. J. 989 (1976), as well as to administer it in admixture with liquid foods, such as milk, soups, etc.
It has, however, also been attempted to prepare dietetic breads enriched with bran, as is shown inter alia by "Handbuch der Ernahrungslehre" (Handbook of Nutritional Science) by C. V. Noorden, Volumes 1 and 2, Springer (1920, 1929). Such breads with added bran have been known for a long time, although these breads were usually intended to serve other purposes, such as for example protein enrichment or the reduction of carbohydrate intake. These breads include for example wholemeal breads or bran breads, such as are on sale in German--speaking countries, for example, under the names "Schluterbrot", "Germanenbrot", "Klopferbrot", and "Roag-brot"--see the text book by Neumann-Pelshenke, "Brotgetreide und Brot" (Bread cereals and Bread), Page 516, Verlag P. Parey (1954). All these breads have the common feature than their bran content is so low that in order to meet the daily requirement of bran, a relatively large amount of the bread would have to be taken and such an amount would provide an unacceptably high intake of calories or joules. A ready-to-use flour, which has been descrived in the specification of Austrian Pat. No. 335 942 for making a protein-rich bread with a reduced carbohydrate content, contains only from 15 to 30% by weight of finely ground cellulose-rich plant material. A rather higher proportion of non-nutritive edible cellulose material, namely 10 to 50%, is used for preparing dough as described in the German Auslegeschrift No. 1,930,644, in which case, however, it is necessary for the dough to contain, in addition to from 1 to 10% of edible plant gum, an additional component in the form of 50% of so called "Vitalklebermehl" (Vital gluten flour) as a special component which on separation of the gluten from the starch produces a non-denatured "vital" gluten.